


Senju Destinies

by Eravanthia



Series: Kaida Chronicles [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, POV Third Person Omniscient, but that's it, or semi-omniscient, you can hear the Senju Brothers thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-04-19 18:47:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19138546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eravanthia/pseuds/Eravanthia
Summary: Just the Senju side of things as it relates to Uchiha Destinies and the effects Uchiha Kaida eventually has on the Senju.***EDIT***There has been one line added to the end of Chapter 5 in Touka's PoV in order to tie in to a detail I've included in UD Chapter 10, which is /almost/ finished!





	1. You've Been Going Where?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JustARandomCommenter97](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=JustARandomCommenter97).



> A/N: Chapter one of Senju Destinies aligns with Chapter two of Uchiha Destinies.

The moment Senju Hashirama stepped foot in his clan compound something seemed amiss.  He wasn't exactly sure what it was, no one could ever claim him to be the  _most_ observant, but he could tell from the way Tobirama wasn't waiting for him with a scowl asking where he'd been all day; something was off.  He'd had a wonderful day at the Naka river with his best friend Madara, skipping rocks and sparring, and the evidence of his good day was plastered on his face in the form of a ridiculous grin.

No one could convince him that emotions were a bad thing, and he wore his heart on his sleeve for the world to see.  As he drew closer to his home, however, his grin slipped from his face.  His father was waiting for him with his arms crossed and a stern expression.

"Hello, Father.  Is something the matter?"  His cheerful voice didn't sway his father in the slightest, it only earned him a raised eyebrow and his father turning to point to the door.

"Office.  Now."  Hashirama would like to say he'd never heard his father take that tone with him, but that would be a lie.  It was the same tone his father used whenever he was sick of listening to Hashirama talk about making peace.  He did as he was told, shuffling through the house to his father's office.  Once he opened the door he saw his little brother, Tobirama, and the bad mood weighing his shoulders down lifted slightly.

"Tobes!"  He cried cheerfully, and tried to catch the younger boy in a hug that was expertly dodged.  Their father came into the room before Tobirama could respond.

"Both of you sit.  Now."  Butsuma's tone had them both obeying without question.

"Hashirama, you've been spending a lot of time outside the compound the past couple weeks.  Would you like to explain where you've been disappearing to or what you've been up to?"

Hashirama grinned easily, "I've been going to the Naka river to skip rocks!"

"Mm.  So it would seem.  Have you met anyone there recently?"

That question gave Hashirama a moment of pause.  What had brought this line of questioning on?  He glanced to his brother whose expression remained blank, then looked back to his father.

"Yes, Father.  I've made friends with a boy my age who goes there sometimes.  His name is Madara."

He couldn't have predicted Butsama's reaction to the news, but had he been given a chance he never would have expected the angry growl rumbling out of his father's chest.  Tobirama could have rolled his eyes at the obvious display of the source of his sibling's dramatic tendencies.  He didn't because he much preferred to live, thank you very much.

"That boy -as you've so inaccurately described him- Is Uchiha Madara.  The future Uchiha clan head."

Hashirama blinked a few times as the revelation soaked in, then he let out a cry of shock.  "He is?!  That's so great!  Father, he wants peace too!  When he takes the clan we could finally end this war!"  He was practically vibrating in his chair, but the next words from his father made his mood do a complete about face.  He froze in his chair and looked at his father with wide pleading eyes.

"I'll hear no more of this pointless talk of peace, Senju Hashirama.  It's obvious to me that the Uchiha have sent Madara to trick you into spilling clan secrets.  Tomorrow when you go back to the river, your brother and I will follow you.  We will end the boy and deal a crushing blow to the Uchiha in the process."

Hashirama opened his mouth to argue, but his father cut him off before he could make a sound.

"My decision is final and you will not question it.  Now go to your room."

Hashirama's shoulders drooped and there was an almost visible rain cloud over his head, but he left the office without another word.  Tobirama shared a look with his father before quietly rising and following his older brother from the room.

That night the Senju brothers lay awake for vastly different reasons.  One trying to figure out any way to prevent the death of his friend and coming back empty-handed.  The other with his shirt lifted staring at the black words printed across his ribcage in a flowing script, wondering who would possibly feel the need to speak the short phrase.  Least of all to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are only intended to be snippets of important points in the Uchiha Destinies story, but from the Senju Brothers point of view. Some chapters may be longer than others, some may be shorter, but either way I hope you enjoy them!


	2. The Girl in the Trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Senju brother's perspective on the Naka river confrontation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Chapter Two aligns with Uchiha Destinies Chapter 3

Hashirama was tense through breakfast that morning.  He had stayed up most of the night trying to think of any plan that could save his friend and the only thing he could think was to somehow warn Madara.  If Madara could run then it wouldn't matter what punishment Butsuma gave him, it would be entirely worth it.  The whole way to the Naka he was plotting how to possibly warn his friend that had the least chance of being detected.

He decided on picking up a decent sized rock and scratching out a warning onto it.

He reached the river at the same time as Madara, who suggested they throw stones.  He brightened just a bit, it was the perfect opportunity.

They both took aim and then loosed their rocks, not even bothering to skip them.  They looked down at the same time and Hashirama felt his shoulders tense.  Madara's stone had a similar warning on it.  Before either of them could act on it though, their families exploded from the treeline on either side of the river.  The two clan heads faced each other, spouting hatred, and his little brother stood in front of the little brother Madara had told him so much about.

Their little brothers, their precious people were set to kill each other and their fathers didn't even care.

Then Tobirama's shoulders tensed slightly and his eyes slid off the small Uchiha to focus on the treeline 10 yards downstream.

"You in the trees, come out and face us."

Out stepped a girl who looked almost exactly like Madara, but her hair was longer and pulled into a high pony tail on top of her head leaving some of the front down to frame her face.  Despite being pulled so high, her hair still fell to the middle of her shoulder blades.

Tobirama ignored the sudden stutter of his heart and focused back on the Uchiha in front of him.  Whoever this girl was, she had the look of someone who felt similarly to Hashirama.  The idea that all the fighting and killing was pointless.

In the next heartbeat she was in front of Tobirama, between his father's blade and the boy in front of him.  She had loosed her two daggers and caught Butsuma's blade with them, but the weight of the blow had driven her to her knees.  Distantly he realized that Hashirama was between him and the Uchiha clan head's blade.  The girl in front of them let out a strangled cry, like she had realized something she couldn't bear to think about.

The Uchiha clan head growled at her.  "I thought you were to stay home, child.  You’re too weak for a battle like this, nearly too weak for any battle.  Why are you here?”

His words struck Tobirama as odd.  Couldn't they sense her chakra pools?  She hadn't shown herself, even after he and his father had burst from the trees, yet she hadn't seemed surprised or worried when he called her out.  More than that even, she had just successfully blocked his fathers blow and aside from dropping to a knee had barely blinked.  Interesting.

"I'm here to defend lives, Father.  Nothing more, nothing less."  Her clear, almost musical voice cut into Tobirama's musings about her supposed weakness and Hashirama looked at her, nearly awestruck.

Hashirama's awe projected into his voice, "You look like Madara!"

The girl let out a surprisingly delicate snort as she pushed against Butsuma's blade.  "Well that would make sense, as I'm his twin sister."

"Quiet!"  Both the clan heads snapped at once, their children falling silent immediately.

Hashirama continued to regard the girl with barely restrained awe, while Tobirama decided he would make it his mission to discover more about her.  Why was she called weak when she was obviously skilled enough and strong enough to traverse 10 yards in the blink of an eye and block a sword swing from a clan head?  Did they know about her chakra pools?  Was she a sensor?  Exactly how talented was she with those daggers?  What kind of food did she like?  Wait.  Where had that thought come from?  He obviously didn't care about  _her_.  Just her skills and the threat she posed to the clan.

Hashirama's eyes snapped to his friend when he heard Madara tell his father that he wouldn't be able to beat Hashirama.  That was a lie!  Madara was lying in the hopes of everyone walking away from this alive!

"Hn.  Well then, we should retreat.  Your sister's presence does nothing to sway the odds in our favor."  The clan head and the youngest Uchiha made to jump away.  Tobirama didn't think that sounded right.  With her chakra pools and the ease with which she was continuing to hold his father's blade at bay he guessed she was either stronger than the clan head was letting on, or the clan head didn't  _know_ how strong she was.  Taking the obvious disdain the man had for his oldest daughter into account, Tobirama would bet on the latter, but why?

She stayed for a heartbeat longer than her father and brothers, the clan head not even seeming to care that he had just left his daughter at the mercy of the three Senju as he vanished into the woods.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop this, Hashirama."

Her words gave the two boys pause as she Body Flickered back to the far edge of the clearing.  She stayed for a heartbeat longer, looking back at them and it seemed like she was trying to commit them to her memory, then she disappeared.

The two Senju tuned their father out for the journey back home.  Hashirama kept playing Madara's twin's words over in his mind.   _"I'm here to defend lives...nothing more, nothing less"_ and  _"I'm sorry I couldn't stop this"_ played on repeat the whole way home.  She seemed to want peace as much, if not more than Hashirama himself.  If he thought he could get away with it, he would cry for happiness.

Tobirama on the other hand, couldn't get the look on her face out of his head.  That strangled cry she had let out...it hadn't seemed to be because of the strength of the blow she had blocked.  It came a beat too late to be from that.  In fact, it came about the same time she seemed to notice that her father had tried to kill him.  Then he realized with a start that she had not once activated her Sharingan, even though it would have given her an advantage.  Surely she had it.  Hmm.  This girl was more interesting than he wanted to admit.

That night their father informed them that they would be going to battle the following day.

"If the two Uchiha from the river are there you will fight them.  From the way Tajima was speaking to her and about her, his daughter will most likely be absent, but if she happens to be there don't bother with her.  Keep an eye on her certainly, it is foolish to ignore an enemy just because they are weak, but don't engage unless she does."

The two brothers acknowledged their fathers orders and went to bed, thoughts filled with possibilities for the following day.


	3. Her Father Wants What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 aligns with Chapter 4 of Uchiha Destinies

Tobirama and Hashirama deliberated the whole way to the battlefield about whether or not the Uchiha girl would be there and what they might or might not do if she was.  Tobirama was fully intent on watching the girl to determine her true skill level.  Hashirama insisted on pleading for peace with them.  Tobirama tried to convince his brother that it would be pointless, but Hashirama wouldn't listen to reason.

Hashirama continued to insist that the Uchiha girl wanted peace just as much as he did, maybe even more.  Tobirama didn't know how he could have come to that conclusion.

When they reached the clearing they only had to wait about twenty minutes before Tobirama felt a strange wave of chakra brush against him.  It felt familiar and he scrunched his nose trying to identify which Uchiha sibling it came from.  He stretched his sensory technique to the limit, about 4.5 miles, and felt nothing for a moment.

Then they crossed the threshold and he reached to his brother.

“They’re coming.  Equal numbers.  At least one sensor.  They know we’re here.”  He let his sensory fall back to just covering the battlefield.  His technique was like a net spread over an area, catching everything and giving him feedback constantly.  All that feedback could be exhausting if the range was too large and one of them was continuously pulsing their chakra every few seconds, making a small shock wave travel out.

He’d heard of sensing techniques like that, but he’d never seen it in use before.  Was it as exhausting as his?  The range was obviously better if he had felt it before they could make it into his own range.

The Uchiha stepped onto the field and the Senju followed.  That chakra pulse continued every few seconds and his eyes scanned the Uchiha for the source.  His eyes locked with the girl’s.  So she was here.  He leaned to Hashirama.

“She’s here.  Just behind your friend.”  His whisper made Hashirama snap to attention with a grin and focus on her.

She said something to her twin, whose reply made her snort.  Tobirama could still hear that snort from yesterday and he scowled to himself.  He would figure her out and when she was no longer a mystery he would forget about her.

They met in the center of the battlefield and Hashirama pleaded for peace.  Predictably, Madara shut him down.  Tobirama realized the sensory chakra pulses were coming from the girl and cut in before his brother could start any theatrics.

“You there, twin of the future clan head.  What is your name?”  He had hoped he would finally be able to call her something other than “Uchiha Girl”.  Strictly for clarification reasons, obviously.  Other than a slight tightening around her mouth she stayed silent.

Hashirama perked up immediately.  “Oh yeah!  Hey, why are you here?  We figured your father wouldn’t send you to battle!”

For a fraction of a second pain flashed across the faces of her brothers, unseen by her, and sadness flashed in her eyes.  Whatever the answer to that was, none of them liked it.

“He sent me here hoping I would die.”  Well that answered why none of them liked it.  Tobirama’s eyes widened against his will and he heard his brother gasp loudly.  The two Uchiha brothers shoulders were tensed and the girl looked impossibly sad despite her blank expression.  For an Uchiha she had very expressive eyes.

Hashirama’s voice quaked.  “What do you mean?  Why would he want his only daughter to die?”

Those overly expressive eyes hardened, not that Tobirama could blame her for being through with the line of questioning.

“Because I am a disappointment to him.  Enough talk, Hashirama.  My twin is right, there can be no peace so long as our fathers reign.”  Her clear, musical voice echoed.

Tobirama turned to signal their forces to begin the battle.  Then the Senju brothers met the Uchiha brothers in the middle and Tobirama distantly noticed the chakra pulses continued throughout the battle.

Izuna missed a step and Tobirama thought he finally had a chance to land a blow, only to be stopped halfway there by the girl’s daggers.  She held his gaze and he noticed again that she wasn’t using a Sharingan.  Why she might cripple herself in that way he couldn’t fathom.

“Ah, so you join the fight, Uchiha girl.”  He smirked at her but suddenly she looked like she was in pain even though he was very sure she hadn’t been injured yet.

“Little brother!  Now!”  Her voice was steady though her eyes were anything but and suddenly she was gone and he was fighting Izuna again.

They continued to fight, he could hear Hashirama begging Madara for peace and he caught glimpses of the girl fending off a few random Senju.  He heard his cousin Touka’s enraged shriek and found a second to check on her.  She was teamed up with one of their other cousins to take on the girl.

For a moment he felt a flash of remorse for the girl.  Surely her father would get his wish if she was facing an angry Touka.  She didn’t look worried though.  She looked…relieved?  She expertly blocked and dodged everything and didn’t once attempt an offensive move.

With her last block she got in close to Touka’s angry face and whispered something.  Suddenly she was next to her twin.

“Anija, they’re starting to attack me in pairs.”

Hashirama blinked and Madara let loose a roar of fury.  He made a split second decision.  He sent his mokuton out and caught the two Senju chasing his friend’s sister, he realized one of them was his cousin Touka and she looked furious but it was more of an after thought.

“If we are having to team up to take out a girl who the clan head claims is the weakest of the Uchiha, we have no business fighting this battle!  Better for us to retreat with all our lives and fight again another day!”  He made sure his voice carried across the clearing and one by one the Senju started to retreat as Madara called for the Uchiha to retreat as well.

He noticed his friend send him a grateful nod before Izuna broke away from Tobirama and the brothers retreated with the rest of the Uchiha.  The girl however, didn’t move for a moment.  Her eyes were locked on Tobirama.  Then Tobirama turned to her and she quickly slid her gaze to Hashirama.

Like she was afraid of what she would see, Tobirama mused when he saw her look to his brother instead of meeting his gaze.  She stood straight and sure of herself in the face of the two Senju brothers.

“Thank you Hashirama.  For what it’s worth, I want your peace too.”  Tobirama looked to his brother as Hashirama opened his mouth to reply, but the girl was already gone.  Apparently she really liked utilizing the Body Flicker technique.

Hashirama and Tobirama joined their forces in retreat, both silent and mulling over the revelations of the day.  The Uchiha clan head hoped for his daughter to die.  Was that why she wanted peace?  So she wouldn’t die?  She hadn’t seemed all that worried when facing an angry Touka, even with Touka teaming up with another Senju.  She had shown no fear.

The Senju forces made camp before Touka approached the brothers, looking simultaneously irritated and confused.  Only she could pull off looking like that without looking like an utter moron.

“Hashi, Tobes.”

“What is it, Touka?”  Hashirama’s voice was concerned.

“That girl that I fought with Keisuke.  Madara’s twin?”  She seemed unsure of what she was about to say.

“Continue,” Tobirama’s level voice prompted as he came to stand next to his brother.

“While we were fighting she reprimanded Keisuke when he did something that could have injured me.  When I asked why she cared she…she told me to talk to all the people she fought and find out how many she had injured.”

The brothers looked at each other, then back to Touka.

“And?”  Hashirama looked eager to know the answer.

“She fought most of us at one point or another over the course of the battle, whether she was stepping in to defend a fellow Uchiha momentarily or whether they had specifically engaged her.  I talked to all of them.  Not a single one was injured by her.  Some even admitted she had had more than one chance to do serious harm if not kill them and all she had done in those instances was push, throw, or kick them back across our line.  She didn’t even leave a bruise.  Not on any of them.”

Hashirama looked amazed, Tobirama looked puzzled.  “You’re dismissed, Touka.  Go get some rest,” Tobirama whispered.  She nodded and walked away.

Hashirama turned to him, “Tobes, she truly wants peace!  This is proof!”

Tobirama huffed.  “We don’t know that, Anija.  Maybe she just-”

“Maybe she what?”  Hashirama interrupted quickly, “Tobirama you know exactly how difficult what she pulled off is.  Why would she go through all that trouble when she could just injure her opponent and get them off the field?  She wants peace, you heard her yourself.  Now we know exactly how much she wants it.”

Tobirama groaned.  Hashirama was going to be insufferable after this.  Someone who wanted peace enough that she wouldn’t injure opponents?  He could only guess that’s why she never used her Sharingan.  Both her brothers had the dojutsu, it would stand to reason that she had unlocked it as well.

She had just gained a new layer of mystery.


	4. What's Your Name?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patrol duty just got a little less boring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This aligns with chapter 5 of Uchiha Destinies

Patrol duty was agonizingly boring as he wound his way through the Senju clan territory.  No one was stupid enough to try to invade their lands, so he could look forward to absolutely nothing happening over the course of the night.  The moon climbed higher in the sky as he approached the edge of their lands closest to the Naka river and his thoughts drifted to Madara and Izuna and...Madara's twin.

He'd been thinking of her more and more as the years went by.  Seven years of battles and she’d never caused a single injury.  Not a scratch, not even a bruise.  He would know, he had personally checked every person after every battle.

He tried to tell himself that it was simple curiosity, a need to know the unknown.  That the mysteries surrounding her were like his experiments, intriguing but once they were figured out he would waste no more time with them.

It was about that moment he happened to feel her chakra brush against his skin.  He came to a halt and cast his sensing net out, he’d increased his range over the years and it was an easy thing to stretch it the four miles between himself and the Naka.  She was there.

He took off without a second thought.

He felt her chakra again, so she had to know he was coming but his sensing told him she hadn’t moved at all.  As he covered the distance between them he realized he hadn’t felt anymore pulses.  She had stopped sending them out, but she hadn’t retreated?

She was just sitting in somewhat neutral territory with no awareness for her surroundings?  He sped up.

When he reached the edge of the trees he stopped and looked at her closely.  She was sitting on top of the water staring down into it, letting her fingers play in the current.  Not paying any attention to her surroundings, not even sensing!  She was vulnerable like this!  Why was it suddenly hard for him to breathe?

He stepped from the trees and when his foot came down on the rocks they shifted.  Suddenly he was looking into her eyes.

She shot up and immediately started backing away from him.

“I’m not going to attack you, Uchiha girl.  I just want to know your name.  Please?”

Her whimper made his heart feel like it wanted to shatter.  Why was she out here alone?  Why was she sad?

“I know better than to think you’re scared of me, you’ve come between my blade and your brother too many times for me to believe that.”

She still said nothing, just stared at him with impossibly sad eyes.  She had the same porcelain complexion of her clan and it seemed to soak in the moonlight streaming down on them.  Her black hair looked impossibly blacker even with the bright moonlight above them.

Had she always been this pretty?

She activated her Sharingan then, her eyes glowing red, and he tensed.  He drew his sword without thinking but almost before he could draw it completely her eyes were back to their normal obsidian color.

The moment her Sharingan vanished he noticed a single tear slip down her cheek, then she was gone.

He cursed himself for his reaction, in the seven years he’d been seeing her on the battlefield he’d not once seen her use her Sharingan.  Even fighting two to three enemies at once she had never reached for it.

The question of why still played at the back of his mind, and he now added ‘Why would she use it here, but not when she’s actually being threatened?’ to the seemingly endless questions he had about the girl.  A list that  _still_ started with what her damn name was.

He stood there, sensing her Flicker through the woods and felt her chakra pulses start up again, probably making sure he didn’t follow her.  He turned and started back to the Senju lands, playing over their latest meeting in his mind.  He was halfway home when he realized something that made him stop completely and grab the tree next to him to steady himself.

The wrappings that normally covered her left arm had been missing.  He’d seen what was under those wrappings.

Her soul words had been activated.

He hadn’t been close enough to see what they said, they seemed to be a lighter color.  Maybe if it had been daytime, or he had been closer he could have read them.

What they said, however, didn’t matter to him quite as much as the knowledge that she had found her soulmate.  He didn’t quite understand  _why_  her finding her soulmate mattered to him.  She’d never even spoken directly to him, he didn’t even know her name.

Yet it did.  It shook him to his core.  She knew who her soulmate was.  Was probably headed home to him now.

He took off for home, patrol be damned.  He wanted familiar sounds and smells.  He wanted his lab and to listen to his brother wax poetic about peace for the thousandth time.

He wanted to forget about the Uchiha girl with the expressive eyes, the musical voice, the porcelain skin and the chakra that felt like a warm summer rain.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to.


	5. She Forgave Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tobirama's world turns upside down with one little jutsu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This aligns with chapter 7 of Uchiha Destinies

The Senju forces stood in a clearing near cliffs that fell into a valley.  If Tobirama was inclined towards sentiment, he might name this place “Final Valley”, because it would be the final valley his rival would ever see.  He had spent the entire time between getting home from the Naka river the night he’d seen the girl there and preparing to leave for this battle perfecting his secret weapon.

Flying Raijin.

His new jutsu literally bent space and time.  Izuna wouldn’t escape this time, and nothing could save him.  His thoughts went to the Uchiha girl then, as he felt her chakra sweep their group.  Losing her little brother would probably break her heart, but she had a soulmate she could lean on.  She would probably be fine.  Just because she spared lives and was good didn’t mean her brothers or the rest of her clan did the same.

He stretched his sensory net out.  He made it four miles out and felt nothing.  He pushed farther.  Five and a half miles away he was starting to hit his limit, the feedback from so much area coverage was nearing painful levels.  He waited.  Finally the Uchiha group crossed into his net.

“Five and a half miles.  They’ll be here in the next couple minutes.  Their numbers are less than ours.”  Hashirama gave him a tense nod.

The Uchiha stepped onto the field and Tobirama’s eyes immediately zeroed in on the girl.  She was in the middle, between her brothers, and her head was held high.  His heart beat a little faster and he scowled at the feeling.

She had a soulmate, she wasn’t his and beyond that, she was an Uchiha.  He shouldn’t have such a reaction when seeing her.  She and her brothers stepped forward to meet him and Hashirama in the middle and as they drew closer he subtly inspected her.

Her hand was wrapped around Izuna’s wrist so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.  Taking in more details, she had abandoned her usual armor -or really lack thereof- for a thick leather chest plate, and she had her daggers attached to her hips instead of her lower back for the first time in probably two years.

This was the most threatening he had ever seen her.

He scanned her face, but found exactly what he had expected; nothing.  She was a master of the Uchiha blank expression when she wanted to be, it was her eyes that gave her away.  When he finally met her eyes with his his heart could have stopped.  She was scared.

He had never seen fear in her eyes.  He’d seen sadness, laughter, defiance, he’d even seen a brief flash of anger when one of her brothers had been injured.  Fear was something new.  He didn’t like it.  It made him want to take her in his arms and protect her.  He didn’t know what to do with that.

So he focused on Izuna instead.  She had let go of his wrist and he was rubbing it to get the blood flow back, so Tobirama could assume she’d had that grip on his wrist for longer than just the time they had been in the clearing.  Other than that, it seemed like not much had changed with his rival.  Yet.  Something significant would change soon.

Suddenly the girl’s chakra was in an uproar.  Her sensory pulses had stopped entirely and instead her chakra was swirling violently through her body.  He shifted his eyes back to hers and the world dropped away.

Pain.  Sorrow.  Fear.  Anger.  More pain.  Through all the emotions flitting through her eyes, pain was the most prevalent and still her Sharingan stayed inactive.  It brought his question from the night by the river to the forefront of his mind.

Why would she use her Sharingan there, but not here when she was so obviously -to him at least- scared and hurting and angry?  Then there was a spark of determination.  Her hand shot out to catch her twin’s and she grabbed hold of Izuna, her eyes still locked with his.  He could still feel the storm of chakra rolling through her and couldn’t help but wonder what happened for her to suddenly react like that.

She tore her eyes from his and suddenly he was free of the spell.  He turned to his brother who was moping, apparently Madara had declined peace again.  If she was going to be that distracting he was going to have to shut her completely out during his battle with Izuna.

She was through speaking with her brothers and the battle began.  Izuna charged him with more force than normal, apparently something had upset the youngest of the Uchiha siblings.  It still wouldn’t be enough to save him, but it would keep their last battle interesting until he got bored.

* * *

 

Touka was keeping the little witch busy, she seemed to be off her game and that worried Touka more than anything.  She’d never seen the Uchiha girl distracted, but when the girl nearly got hit twice in a row with blows that never should have come close she couldn’t stay quiet anymore.

“You seem distracted today, little witch.”  She hadn’t meant to sneer, but figured it was off put anyway by the tiny smile.

“Must be getting sick, Touka.  Careful, I don’t want you to catch it.”

Touka laughed, the little witch’s sense of humor had grown on her over the years.

“Only you would worry about an enemy catching a cold from you.”

Touka saw the girls lips twitch, but it still seemed like something was off.  She wasn’t as snarky as usual.

“I hate to break it to you, little witch, but you’re stuck with me when you’re this far off your game.  I can’t have someone else catching you off guard.  I’ve been trying to beat you for so long that I don’t care if it takes you being sick for me to finally land a blow.”  Touka knew the girl would hear her for what she was saying: she was worried and she wasn’t going to chance anyone else not holding back against the only Uchiha who deliberately saved the lives of her enemies.

The full smile that came to her face was proof that she’d gotten the message.

“If anyone was to take advantage of my distractions, I’d be glad for it to be you.”  How typical of the little witch, Touka mused with a snort.  Their friendship, if that’s what it could be called, was a strange one.  Just trading snark back and forth on a battlefield, but it was welcome all the same.

“Careful, little witch, with words like that people might start to think the Uchiha have hearts,” Touka said with a smile.

“Perish the thought,” the little witch quipped.  She noticed the girl had stayed rather close to Izuna and Tobirama through the battle, but she wasn’t quite sure why.

Suddenly her whole demeanor changed.  The girl glanced over to her brother and Tobirama and her posture went stiff.  When she looked back to Touka there was a sadness in her eyes that Touka couldn’t fathom.

“I’m so sorry,” and then she was gone.  Touka froze.  Where the hell had she gone?

“ANEKI!”  Touka heard Izuna’s shriek and whirled around.  She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“KAIDA!”  Huh, so that was her name.  The thought was ridiculous, but Touka couldn’t quite help it.  She’d known the little witch for seven years and hadn’t been able to learn her name.

* * *

 

It was time, Tobirama decided.  He’d grown bored with the fight, Izuna’s anger had only kept him interested for so long, now he wanted to test his jutsu.  He smirked and reached for the seal he had placed on Izuna almost as soon as their fight had begun.  There was a feeling like being sucked through a slightly too small hole, a squishing feeling, and then he was there and his blade was through Izuna’s chest.

Except.

Since when did Izuna have a high ponytail?

Since when were Izuna’s eyes so emotional?

Oh no.

Nonononono _No._

_It wasn't Izuna.  It was her._

She coughed up blood.

He distantly heard Izuna shriek, heard Madara cry out something that might have been a name, but for once he didn’t care about her name.  Why was she here?  How did she get here in time?  Flying Raijin was faster than the Body Flicker, she shouldn’t have been able to beat it!

His mind was racing trying to figure out how this had happened, then she moved and his mind stopped completely.  She reached up and put her hands over his and he -Senju Tobirama- flinched.  Before he could even process that, she spoke and his heart broke.

“ _I forgive you._ ”

Even without the sudden tingling in his left side he knew.  Those were the first words she had ever said directly to him and they were his.  She was his soulmate.  She was his soulmate and his sword was sticking out of her chest.

She was his soulmate and he had tried to kill her little brother.

Her twin was at her side, lowering her to the ground.

“ **ANIJA HEAL HER.** ”  Had that been him?  It had sounded like him.  He was kneeling next to her.  When had he gotten down here?

Hashirama was sending healing chakra through her chattering nonstop.  Izuna was snarling.  She coughed up more blood, painting her lips red.  Why did this happen?  She called for her brother and Izuna immediately stopped snarling in favor of talking to his sister.

Tobirama’s soulmate.

Her voice was so faint…he had done this.  He had done this to her.

Madara had said something to him…something…

“I didn’t know…she came out of nowhere.”  Was that his voice?  Izuna’s temper snapped.

“She came out of nowhere because she  _knew_!”  She knew?  What did they think she knew?  “She hasn’t been herself since she found out we were battling again today!  She was  _terrified_!  We’ve never seen her as scared as she was before this battle!”

‘ _What did she know?_ ’  He tried to ask but his mouth wouldn’t move and his voice wouldn’t work.  Izuna answered the question without even knowing when he turned to his brother and said “Now we know why she was so scared.  She knew I was supposed to die and decided to take my place.”

Tobirama’s world crashed.  That’s why her chakra had started freaking out before the battle.  That’s why he saw pain and fear and anger and determination in her eyes.  She had known for years that he was her soulmate.  After all this time he couldn’t remember what the first words he spoke to her were, but it had been seven years.  She had known for seven years and said nothing.

She had known that her soulmate intended to kill her little brother and decided to give her life to stop it.  _NO.  No, she wasn't dead.  Not yet._   Hashirama could heal her, he had to.

Touka’s voice pulled him from his despair momentarily.

“Tobes…what happened?”  He let out a pitiful groan, but couldn’t make himself answer her.  Izuna, it seemed, had no such issues.

“He just stuck his sword through his own soulmate in his attempt to kill me.”

So it seemed Izuna knew about it too.

“Soulmate?”  He couldn’t tell who had said that but he didn’t care.  He ripped his chest plate off and pulled his shirt up.  His words were powder blue and he ground his teeth together.  If she died these words would mock him for the rest of his life.  The first and last words she ever said to him.

“Of course she would forgive you!”  Izuna screamed at him.  It was the sound of someone broken.  He recognized it because his body was aching to make the same sound and only his discipline as a shinobi was keeping the sound inside his chest.

* * *

 

Touka was standing behind her cousin staring at the little witch’s pale face.  There was blood on her lips and her breathing was so shallow.  To think just minutes ago she’d seen a smile on those lips and heard the girl’s snarky humor.  She never would have guessed that this battle would turn out like this.

“Tobes…what happened,” she heard herself whisper.  She’d never heard her cousin -normally so stoic and unaffected by everything- make the noise that crawled out of his throat at her question.

“He just stuck his sword through his own soulmate in his attempt to kill me.”

Izuna’s response surprised her.  “Soulmate?”  Her hand raised to press her fingers to her lips, disregarding the tingle racing up her spine as a reaction to the scene in front of her.

She never would have guessed that the girl who had never caused an injury, the girl whose name had been a mystery until a few moments ago when Madara’s anguished cry rang across the battlefield and echoed off the cliffs to their right, the girl who was her _friend_  despite being an Uchiha…she never would have guessed her little witch would be Tobirama’s soulmate.

It seemed Tobirama had never guessed either.

Now they were all watching the one Uchiha no one wanted to die bleed out on the battlefield.  It was too much.


	6. The Uchiha Princess Wakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tobirama has the FEELS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Please note that I added three lines to the end of Chapter 8 in Uchiha Destinies to correspond with the ending to this chapter. I got to the end of writing this chapter and realized it NEEDED to be done, so done it was. That's all, carry on! :)

Tobirama was in his lab, his safe space.  The Uchiha girl…Kaida…his soulmate…she was in the medic building at the other end of the compound.  In a minimally conscious state.  Because of him.

He stalked around the room again.  He hadn’t gone to see her at all over the months she had been here, hadn’t even gotten close to that side of the compound.  Her brothers blamed him for her being in that condition, but he couldn’t really complain since it _was_  his fault.

Then he felt something he’d almost given up hope of feeling again.  Chakra like a warm summer rain brushed his skin and he went stiff.  Then he reached for the Flying Raijin seal on his brother.

Hashirama yelped when Tobirama appeared out of nowhere, but he only grabbed his brother’s arm and growled “She’s awake.”  He felt another wave of her chakra and reached for the seal he had placed outside the medic building before they decided it would be best for her to stay in the Senju compound close to Hashirama.

In the next blink they were outside the building and he felt another pulse.

“What?  How do you know?”

“Chakra pulses.  They’ve started.”  Hashirama went in first, Tobirama stayed outside.  He didn’t want to see her, couldn’t bear to see her.

“Tobirama!  Get in here!”  What could he possibly want?  Tobirama wasn’t a healer, he left that to his brother!  No, Tobirama was a killer, and the reason the only innocent Uchiha had almost died.  No, scratch that.  She _had_  died.   _Twice_.

 _His fault_.

Tobirama dragged himself through the door, pointedly not looking at her.  “What.”

“I need you to read her pulses for me.”  Hashirama turned his attention to Kaida, Tobirama kept his attention on the wall behind his brother.  “Kaida, if you can hear me I want you to pulse your chakra once for yes and twice for no.  Can you do that for me?”

He felt her chakra sweep him once.  He drifted forward without really noticing.

“She said yes,” he spoke so softly he almost didn’t realize he’d spoken at all.  His attention was still on the wall though.  He couldn’t look at her.

“Does anything hurt?”

Tobirama wanted to roll his eyes.  She’d taken a sword to the chest, surely something hurt.  He felt two slow pulses.

“No.”  That was a surprise to him.

“That’s good.  Is Madara bothering you?”  He did roll his eyes then.  He was her twin, surely she wouldn’t be bothered by-

Oh.  Her chakra pulse was so strong he nearly rocked backwards from the force of it hitting his senses.

“Ahem.  I’m going to take that one as a yes.  It was stronger than any pulse I’ve felt yet.”  And it was.  He almost looked at her, to find the emotion in her eyes, but forced himself to stare at the wall.  He couldn’t look at her.

“Shit.  Kaida, I’m sorry! You’ve just been asleep for so long I didn’t think you would be awake yet!”  So that’s what was annoying her.  His pessimism.  Tobirama couldn’t really blame her.  Her chakra stayed passive and he looked to his brother with a raised eyebrow.

“Did you hear him Kaida?  Are you still awake?”  Hashirama seemed a little concerned that she’d stopped communicating.

He felt a pulse and it brought a chuckle out in spite of himself.  He had a feeling he knew what was going on.

“I believe you’re getting the silent treatment, Madara.”  When he felt another chakra pulse he chuckled again, louder this time and the three other men looked at him strangely.

“Definitely the silent treatment.”  He forced his gaze to stay on the wall, no matter how badly he wanted to look at her.

Izuna snickered.  “Sounds about right.”

Madara’s growl made Tobirama roll his eyes again.  “I’m not leaving.”  Considering no one had actually asked him to leave, that seemed a little obvious.

“Kaida, do you remember what happened?”

Tobirama’s stomach dropped.  Did she remember him trying to kill her brother?  Did she remember him nearly killing her instead?  His right hand drifted up to press his soul words through his shirt.  Would she still forgive him?  Two pulses and momentary relief washed through him.  “She doesn’t.”  His whisper was quiet, but it still carried in the silence of the room.

Hashirama gave an interested hum.  “You were injured in our last battle.”

There was a pause then, probably her trying to remember how she of all people had been injured.

Three pulses rocked him.  Three?  That wasn’t a code…

“I think she’s trying to ask something.”

One pulse.  He kept his gaze straight ahead and nodded toward his brother, carefully not thinking about how well he could understand her even without words.

“Do you want to ask how?”  Well that would probably be the most basic question she had.  One pulse.  “Yes.”

“Mm.  You intentionally stepped in front of an attack meant for your brother.  It would have been fatal if I hadn’t been there to heal you.  It very nearly was anyway.”

Tobirama closed his eyes.  That was…the bare minimum of what had happened.  When she found out the whole story would she still forgive him?  Even if she did he knew he wouldn’t deserve it.  He had tried to kill her little brother and nearly killed her instead.

“You’re safe here, Kaida, but I want you to get some more rest okay?  When you wake back up we’ll see how you’re doing.”

Tobirama turned and started walking to the door.  He couldn’t be there any longer.  If he stayed he might look at her, and that was something he couldn’t let himself do.  He had put her there, he didn’t deserve to look at her.

He felt her chakra pulse one more time and smirked.  She seemed to be the type that always had to have the last word.  How well they would have gotten along.

Madara grabbed his shoulder just as he made it outside.

“What, Madara.”

“She forgave you, Tobirama.  I may not like you, but you _are_  her soulmate.  Do not turn your back on her or she will break more than she already has.”

“She is like that because of me.  Why would you want me anywhere near her?”

“Because unlike you, I know why she was crying that night at the Naka.”

Tobirama blinked.  The night he’d seen her soul words months ago?  The only time he’d ever seen her use her Sharingan?  His curiosity was piqued.

“Do you also know why she used her Sharingan even though I told her I wouldn’t attack her?”

Madara nodded.  “I know many things about my twin.  Why she chooses to use her Sharingan the way she does is something that you will learn from her in time.”

“Then why was she crying.”  Tobirama braced himself to hear that it was because of something he had done.

“When she used her Sharingan to remember, you reacted.  She took that to mean that you thought of her as nothing more than another Uchiha.  She took it as proof that she could never be with you because of your hatred for our clan.”

“To remember?  Nothing-…  Never-”  Tobirama couldn’t decide which part was more preposterous.

The idea that he could think of _her_  as just another Uchiha, or that she thought her clan would’ve been able to keep them apart had he known she was his before he ruined everything.

“I…”  Tobirama didn’t know what he could possibly say to that.  “Remember what?  What did she want to remember?”

“You.  She said you were too beautiful not to remember forever.”

That was too much.  He reached for the Raijin seal in his lab and pulled hard.

Two days later he felt her chakra pulse, stronger this time.  He reached his net out to her, her chakra seemed…happy?  What?  He pulled on his brother’s seal.

Hashirama yelped again and Tobirama rolled his eyes.  “You should really get used to this, Anija.  She’s awake.”  Without waiting for a response he grabbed his brothers arm and pulled them to the seal on the medic building.

Hashirama went in and Tobirama followed this time without being told, though he stayed across the room.  He found that same spot on the wall he had stared at the last time he was in here and focused on it.

With what Madara had told him the last time he was here, he believed even more that he didn’t deserve to look at her.

“She’s awake?”

“Yeah, just now.  How’d you know?”  Izuna’s question almost made him snort.

“Tobirama felt a chakra pulse.”

“Oh.”  Yeah ‘Oh’.  Silly Uchiha.

A pitiful sound came from her bed and his eyebrows pulled together.  What was wrong with her?

“What’s wrong with her?”  Well.  To think he and Madara would be on the same page about something.

“Kaida, can you open your eyes?”

When her chakra pulsed once he was more confused.  If she could then why wouldn’t she?  “She pulsed her chakra for yes.”

“Will you open them for me so you can get a look at your surroundings?  Maybe see your brothers?”  Hashirama’s tone mirrored his own worry.  Which only spiked when he felt two pulses.

He walked forward, needing to be closer but still not looking at her.

“No.”

“Do you not want to see your brothers?”  Well that was probably one of the silliest questions his brother had ever asked.  This opinion was only reinforced when he felt two strong pulses from her and her chakra stayed infused.

“I don’t think that’s it, Anija.”  No, it was something else.  She could do it, but for some reason she didn’t want to.  It was him, it had to be.  She didn’t want to see him.  That was the explanation.  Before he could leave the lights in the room snapped off and his brother let out a startled squawk.

“Madara what’s the big idea?”

“You idiot we need those on!”  Tobirama growled, what reason could Madara have possibly had for turning out the lights?  Tobirama needed to leave.  He turned around and took three steps toward the door before Madara spoke to his sister.

“The lights are off my twin, it’s safe.”  What?  Lights?  Safe?  Tobirama froze.

He felt a pulse of Kaida’s chakra wash over him.

“That was apparently the issue,” Tobirama murmured, completely surprised.  Why had the lights mattered?

Madara grunted and he turned to find the man facing him.

“My twin has always preferred nighttime and darkness.”  She did?  He fought to keep his eyes on Madara and off the man’s twin.  “After her eyes being closed for so long I figured the lights in this room would be like looking into the sun for her.”

When she pulsed her chakra again Tobirama let out a breath he hadn’t even known he’d held.

“She agreed with you.”

He could see movement in his peripheral vision and his eyes followed it before he could stop them.  The minute he met her eyes he realized he had made a huge mistake.

Her onyx eyes widened and her breath left her in a rush.  Oh no.  This was it.  She was going to remember that he tried to kill her little brother and she was going to hate him.

She reached for him and he took a step back.  She was going to try to kill him, it was the only logical reaction.

She pulsed her chakra twice and reached for him again.  This time when he tried to step back she let loose the most pitiful whine he’d ever heard.  It broke his heart all over again and he froze in his tracks.

If she wanted to kill him, so be it.  It would be better to never be the cause of that heart wrenching sound again.  When Madara grabbed him to drag him to her he didn’t fight it.  Didn’t want to fight it.  She had disarmed him completely without saying a thing.

When he was next to her she pointed at him, then at her left forearm where her words were.  He was confused.  Didn’t she remember she had said his words?  He knew they were soulmates.  That’s why he didn’t deserve to look at her!

“Yes, I know.  You’ve already said mine.”  When she rolled her eyes…were those butterflies in his stomach?  She pointed again.

“I think she wants to see them.”  Madara’s voice cut in and she pulsed her chakra once.  Why the hell would she want to see words she probably regretted.  Hell, maybe she couldn’t even remember saying them?  He sighed.

He reached down and lifted the left edge of his shirt just far enough for her to see the powder blue words printed there in her beautiful flowing handwriting.

The second they came into view her eyes were glued to them and her lips twitched like she was trying to smile.  Why would she smile?  She slowly reached out and pressed her fingers against the words and his heart rate kicked up a notch.

Then she pulsed her chakra once for yes and he covered the words on her forearm with the hand that wasn’t holding his shirt up.  Could they just stay there in that moment forever?  Apparently not.

“Get a room!”  Izuna’s voice was like cold water to the heat under his skin.  Damn, how had he let himself get this close?  He didn’t deserve this!  Didn’t deserve her!  She snapped her eyes to her little brother with a glare that he’d never seen on her face before.  One that promised pain.  He fought back a smile.

Hashirama apparently found the whole display rather amusing because he chuckled.  “Technically for now this _is_  her room.”

She pulsed her chakra once again and this time he let himself smirk, just for a moment because no one was looking at him.

“She agreed.”  Why did that make him happy?

Madara sighed.  “Let’s give her a minute with him.  She’s had almost eight years of not being able to talk to her soulmate.”  Yes.  They all needed to leave.  He needed to leave, but apparently that wasn’t happening.  Even if he had tried, his body probably wouldn’t have listened to him.

Kaida pulsed her chakra again and he let himself soak in the feeling of her chakra washing over him again.  He felt like a drowning man finally coming up for air.

Desperate for more.

He took a seat next to the bed and took her hand that had been touching the words on his skin with the one that had been holding his shirt up.

“I assume you were trying to remind me that you forgive me?”

When she nodded he felt relief and disappointment at the same time.  She didn’t regret her words.  She didn’t, but she should have.

“I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

Her eyes narrowed and he saw a flicker of annoyance.  She pulsed her chakra twice.  Why did that make him feel so bad?  It was the truth!

She pointed toward his words again and pulsed her chakra with a confident nod.  It seemed he had her forgiveness whether he felt he deserved it or not.  His heart beat with excitement.  Well, if she was that set on forgiving him he’d just have to make sure she would never regret it.

He sighed.

“You’re going to be a handful, I can see it now.  Too stubborn for your own good.”

Her lips curled in a heart stopping smile.  The first real smile she’d had since she woke up.  She pulsed her chakra once, it seemed she agreed with that assessment.

He let himself smirk at her.

“I hope you won’t regret this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you all, please don't hate me for the feels overload! After the angst in U.D. chapter 7 and S.D. chapter 5, I felt like we all needed a little fluff. Or a lot of fluff. Or a literal boatload of fluff. <3 :D
> 
> P.S. I know it's kinda angsty fluff, but he did stab his soulmate in the chest in an attempt to kill her brother. It can't exactly be all rainbows and sunshine in his head right now! <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings. Tobi has feelings. He doesn't think he should have them, but he does. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! This chapter is /also/ longer than the normal word count for UD (not that I have a specific word count for the SD chapters, BUT! I digress) at almost 4k words. :)

Tobirama was sitting in his lab.  He had finally managed to get some decent sleep the night before, after leaving Kaida to rest.  He still didn’t need much sleep to function properly, but for the first time in five months what sleep he did get was deep and peaceful.

It seemed having her forgiveness, whether or not he thought he deserved it, eased his conscience enough to sleep again.  That didn’t mean he didn’t still feel guilty though.  When he thought about the way her voice broke and cracked instead of sounding like her normally clear musical voice the day before, it made his heart clench.  When he remembered how frail she looked in that medical bed his stomach turned.

No, his guilt was not erased.  Not by a long shot, but she had eased it enough for him to finally sleep.  Which was a step in the right direction.

He had woken just before dawn and come to his lab to think, to try to come up with more ways to make it all up to her.  He wouldn’t stop trying to be worthy of her forgiveness.  The problem was, he didn’t know much about her.  He didn’t know what foods she liked or what flowers she preferred.

He only knew what little they had always known.  She was the twin of the Uchiha clan head, her father had sent her to die, and she refused to injure people.  The only new piece of information they had gotten in the five months she had been here was her name.  He didn’t even know _why_  she refused to injure people.  Surely one, if not both, of her brothers knew the answer to that, but thus far they had been tight lipped about anything regarding their sister.

Hashirama had tried asking Madara why Kaida was so averse to hurting people more than once, yet the Uchiha only rolled his eyes and told Hashirama he’d have to ask her when she woke if he wanted to know that badly.  Izuna wouldn’t even say that much.  He would only scoff and go back to whatever he had been doing.

He felt her chakra wash over him then and he pulled on his brother’s seal.  Instantaneously he was at his brother’s side.

“Good to see you doing some paperwork for once, Anija.”  He quipped as he felt her chakra again.

Hashirama pouted up at him and he laid a hand on his brothers shoulder.

“She’s awake again.”  He pulled them to the seal outside her room before Hashirama could respond.

“You really need to give me more warning than that, Tobes,” Hashirama complained.

“Don’t call me that.”  He felt her chakra again and Hashirama walked through the door.  He stayed outside, not wanting to assume she wanted him there, as his brother greeted her.

“Good morning, Kaida!”  Hashirama’s cheerful voice floated out.  To Tobirama’s surprise, she responded.

“You know, Tobirama doesn’t have to stay outside.  He’s always welcome so long as I have a say.”  He felt his eyes widen a little.  Her voice!  It was a little rougher than it used to be, but she was talking!

He heard his brother echo his own thoughts and as he stepped into the room he heard her chuckle.  His heart beat a little faster.  Maybe today he could finally have a real conversation with her.  Would she want to though?

He smiled a little at the thought of truly talking to her, though uncertainty diminished the smile to just a small twist of his lips, and met her eyes as she glanced at him.  The second her eyes met his she broke into a beautiful grin and extended her hand to him.

As he moved to take her hand she looked back to Hashirama with a smirk, “That’s what you get when I wake up an hour and a half before dawn in a bad mood and with nothing to occupy my time.  I get shit done.”

She coughed out the last word and began to reach for her glass before pouting at the empty thing.  Hashirama chuckled a little and went to refill it.

She had been in a bad mood?  What had put her in a bad mood as soon as she woke up?  Madara and Izuna had returned to the Uchiha compound to inform the elders that Kaida had regained consciousness, so it wasn’t anything they did.  Maybe their absence?

A few more words were exchanged while Tobirama was chasing this train of thought, and before he could stop himself he found himself speaking.

“Why were you in a bad mood?”  He saw a flash of shock cross through her eyes and as she took a drink of he water he saw annoyance.  He should have kept his mouth shut, it wasn’t his right to question her.  She pouted up at him when she pulled the glass away and his heart melted.  She could never ever know how effective that pout was on him, otherwise she’d always get her way.

“I was thinking about how weak I am from being in bed for five months and how much work I’m going to have to do to get back to where I was before.”  He couldn’t believe how good it felt to hear her voice again, even as rough as it was.  “It takes a force of will just to send my chakra pulses the mile between this room and wherever it is that you spend all your time.”

He guessed it was to be expected, chakra was kind of like a muscle.  The more one worked with it the more they could use it.  Conversely, the longer one went without using it the harder it would be to use it for extended periods of time or, apparently in the case of sensory techniques, extended ranges.

He smirked in spite of himself.

“You mean for once in our lives my sensing is better than yours?”

She growled, and he would have thought she was angry if it wasn’t for the little smile she had.

“Don’t get used to it, _Tobi_.”  His smirk melted into a little scowl, he hated nicknames.  He carefully didn’t acknowledge the small fact that he  _might_ have liked it when it came from her.

She took a drink and looked at his brother.

“So, Lord Senju, when can I get up and start training?”  Lord Senju?  He almost laughed.  One second she’s calling him _Tobi_ , the next second she’s giving his brother the highest level of respect.  She must really want to train.

“Well, your chest has healed up completely in the five months that you’ve been here.  So long as you start out slow you should be fine with working to get your strength back now.  Start out by getting back to the point that you can walk entirely without assistance for as long as possible.”  She looked ready to say something when Hashirama continued, “But, and I cannot stress this enough:  do.  Not.  Push yourself.  If you start to get tired, take a break.  Our village will not be built in a day, neither will your recovery.  We are not at war, you should be in no rush.”

Considering the amount of grumbling she did before Hashirama wrangled a grudging agreement from her, she didn't like the idea of not pushing herself.  Then she turned her sights on him.

“I want to go see Touka.  Will you help me get there?  She’s not far.”

He stretched his net out and saw she was right, Touka was in the training ground closest to the medical building.  It would still be a long walk for her first time out of bed though, and he looked at his brother.  She tugged on his hand to pull his attention back to her and when he looked he could see the frustration in her eyes.

“I’ve been in this room for five months and while I may have only been awake for three days of it, I’m already sick of this place.”  Part of him hoped Hashirama would tell her to get a little more strength up before trying to go anywhere outside of the medical building, but when Hashirama sighed he knew he wouldn’t get that lucky.

“I have a feeling if someone doesn’t go with her she’ll just try to go by herself, and while I doubt she would get lost or be attacked by any of our clan members it would probably ease her brother’s minds to know she was not alone on her first trek into the compound.”

Hashirama was right about at least one thing, no Senju in their right mind would attack her.  She was The Uchiha.  The one who had spared the lives of almost everyone in the compound at least once through the course of the last seven and a half years.  On top of that, most of the compound knew she was Tobirama’s soulmate by now.

“He’s not wrong.”  Tobirama frowned.  He wasn’t sure he liked the way she didn’t specify what Hashirama wasn’t wrong about.

“About which part?”  His voice was careful, and she flashed him a cheeky smile.

“Take your pick.”  Tobirama sighed.  Of course.  She _would_  be stubborn enough to try to make it that far on her own.  And if Touka found out that she asked Tobirama to help her and he said no, even in an attempt to get her to get a little more strength up before trying to go that far, there would be _hell_  to pay.

“Such a handful,” he mumbled under his breath, then he nodded and grumbled “Fine, I’m sure Touka will be happy to see you anyway.”

She squeezed his hand and scooted to slide her legs off the edge of the bed.  She looked down at her loose fitting shirt and baggy pants with wide eyes.

“Did my brothers happen to bring any other clothes for me?  And oh my dear sweet Kami I need a shower.  Crapbaskets.  Um, okay shower first, Touka second.  I will _not_  go into the Senju compound at _Senju Tobirama’s side_  looking and smelling like this.”

Tobirama shared a look with his brother.  She cared what the Senju thought of her?  What she looked like next to him?  Hashirama started laughing.

“Yes Kaida, your clothes are right over here and there’s a shower through that door to your left.”  Hashirama answered her with a spark of mischief in his eyes.  Tobirama dreaded that look.  His brother started moving toward the door with a bright smile and Tobirama caught onto his plan just before he walked out the door.  His eyes widened in an attempt to keep Hashirama there, but it did no good.  The door swung shut just as Hashirama called back, “Tobirama will be right out here if you need anything!”

Tobirama stared at the floor trying to force his blush to go away.  Damn Hashirama and his meddling.  He could feel Kaida’s eyes on him.

“I’ll be fine, Tobi.  I’ll sit on the shower floor so I won’t get too tired or risk falling.  You won’t have to help me with anything beyond walking in there.”  Did she think he didn’t want to have to help her?  He didn’t mind helping her, it was that if she _did_  need his help…she would be naked.  What was that word she said before?  Crapbaskets?  Yeah.  He felt like that was kind of accurate to his situation at the moment.

“Don’t call me that,” he found himself grumbling quietly.  Normally he wouldn’t have any problem telling someone not to call him something.  He had to with Touka and Hashirama all the time, not that they ever listened.  He lifted his gaze off the floor to look at her.

“Don’t be stubborn.  If you need help, you need help.  Call for me.”  He came forward and took her arm to help her to the bathroom.  She was so light and felt so delicate, he was afraid he might hurt her.  As she leaned against the wall in the bathroom he turned to start the water for the shower.

“I’m not too picky about the temperature, so long as its warm.”  Her voice came from lower than it should have and he turned to find her sitting on the floor.  She looked like she was trying not to pant and he felt concern wash over him.  If just walking from the bed to the shower with his help was enough to tire her out, how was she going to make it all the way to where Touka was?

She waved a hand in the air as if to dispel his thoughts.  “If being out of breath is enough to stop me I’ll be bed-bound for the rest of my life, Tobirama.  That wound didn’t end my life; I’ll be damned if it ends my freedom.”

He turned back to the shower so she wouldn’t see his grimace.  How could she be so casual about it?  She almost hadn’t survived, and yet here she was talking like it was just another every day wound!

“Tobirama.”  Her voice was soft, but commanding.  She wanted him to look at her.  He hummed, hoping it would be enough response to satisfy her.  It wasn’t.

“Tobirama, come here.”  He turned and she reached out a hand.  He lifted her to her feet and when she was standing she grasped his chin with her hand and made him look at her.  She was just barely shorter than him.  Short enough that she had to look up and he had to look down, but tall enough that if he wanted to he could kiss her without bending over.

Wait.

Kiss her?  He couldn’t do that!

She was still so weak!  She probably didn’t want to kiss him anyway!   _ _“_ She said you were too beautiful not to remember forever.” _ Madara’s words played back in his mind like an argument against himself.  She started talking and he set aside his internal debate.

“I am here, I am alive, and most importantly; I forgive you, Senju Tobirama.  Don’t ever forget that.”  Her free had brushed over his soul words and a tingle rushed through his body.  She moved her hand from his chin to his cheek and continued.

“When my father ordered me to protect my brothers that day after we met at the Naka, I knew he gave that order in the hope that I would die.  I also knew that he would most likely get that outcome someday.  Yet, even at ten years old, even without knowing who would eventually give him the outcome he desired or when it would happen, I forgave whoever that person would be.”

That may have been, his brain told him cruelly, but she didn’t know it would be her own soulmate.  That had to have changed things.

“To know that it was _you_  who nearly killed me doesn’t make my decision that day any less valid, nor does it make me regret forgiving you.  In fact, if I have to I will spend every day for the rest of my blessed life reminding you that I forgive you.”

He raised his hand to trap hers against his face, relishing in the warmth of her skin against his.  She was so…pure.  So good.  She deserved so much more than being his soulmate.

“I don’t know how you can call this a blessed life, having a soulmate who nearly ended it.  Spending seven and a half years knowing who I was to you and thinking I would reject you for being an Uchiha, only to have me drive a sword through you in an attempt to kill your little brother.”  He heard the bitterness in his own voice, but he couldn’t stop the words.  He continued, barely more than a whisper this time, “Forgiving me for killing you is one thing, but I tried to kill Izuna.  How could you forgive that?”

When she looked down he thought maybe, maybe he had finally managed to make her see reason.  That he didn’t deserve to be forgiven.  She was still stroking the words on his ribs, though he wasn’t sure she realized it, when she spoke softly.

“Did you know that Madara and I were not the only twins born to the Uchiha Clan head?”  She was still staring at the floor but he could feel the sadness radiating from her.

When she looked up and offered him a sad smile he knew that whatever story she was about to tell him would cause her far more emotional pain to remember than he ever wanted her to feel.  He saw the pain hidden in her eyes, waiting to be let out.

“Twin boys.  A year younger than Izuna.  Though they were identical, not fraternal.”  When she blinked back tears he slipped his free arm around her waist and lowered her to the ground.  If she was set on remembering this pain, he wouldn’t make her remember it while trying to stand.

“It was two and a half months before the Naka River.  Madara and Izuna took them out to battle.  Their third.  They had caused a few injuries, but hadn’t actually killed anyone yet.”  She cleared her throat and her eyes slid closed.  He wasn’t sure she knew, but the expressionless face the Uchiha were so good at had slid into place as well.  He had no way to know what she was feeling as she told her story now.

“I was waiting for them to come home, excited to see them.  Their smiles were the light of my world and I dreaded the day the innocent happiness faded from them after they made their first kill.”  Her hand clenched into a fist, scrunching his shirt up, and she sounded like she was forcing her words out as she continued.

“I felt Madara and Izuna’s chakra near the gates and went to meet them, only instead of the smiling faces of my baby brothers, or the unsettling mask we Uchiha are famous for…I was met with two bodies covered in white.”  Tobirama stopped breathing.  He knew the story would most likely end this way, the only children of the previous clan head he knew of were her, her twin, and Izuna.  His hand tightened around hers on his cheek as he noticed tears sliding down her face.

Then she took a deep breath through her nose and opened her eyes.  He had once thought it would be a cold day in hell before he saw an Uchiha cry, let alone wanted to stop their tears.  Yet, here he was with an Uchiha crying in his arms and all he wanted was to take her pain away.

“Yet as much as their deaths pain me, I do not hold them against your clan.  Much like Hashirama does not hold the deaths of your little brothers against the Uchiha.  Which, by the way, I am very sorry I wasn’t there to try to prevent.”

Her words shocked him.  All the pain she was obviously in over the deaths of her baby brothers, all the pain she pulled up just to tell him this story, and she didn’t blame the Senju?  She didn’t hate them?  She was even apologizing that she couldn’t save _his_  brothers?  He huffed his breath out in a quiet, sad laugh and tightened his hand around hers again.

“You just told me something so painful, and yet you immediately offer apologies for _my_  loss and voice regret about not being able to prevent it?  You are a mystery, Uchiha Kaida.”  Then she surprised him further.  She let out a soft laugh.

“Oh yeah, you finally know my name.  I guess you can finally stop calling me ‘Uchiha Girl’.”  That was what she chose to respond to?  That he knew her name now?  The flat look he gave her in response made her laugh a little louder.

“Oh, come on Tobi, it’s not like we _tried_  to keep you from learning my name.  You just only ever bothered to ask _me_ , and I sure wasn’t going to have my first words to my soulmate be _my name_.”  It annoyed him that he couldn’t say she was wrong.  Also, there was that damn nickname again.  He huffed and stood up with her.

“Come on, Uchiha Girl.”  Her responding pout was just cute enough that he smirked playfully down at her as he continued talking.  “ Shower before you lose the hot water.  Call for me if you need help.”  She nodded and he moved away to the door to leave her alone, but her voice made him pause with the door still halfway open.

“It's a blessed life because you  _didn't_  end it.  I'm still alive and you haven't rejected me for my clan name.  That's all I will ever ask for and it is a blessing.”  She said the words so softly that he almost hadn’t heard them, but he did.  He closed the door without saying anything, he wasn’t sure what he could say to that.  What he _should_ say to that.  He found the seal he had put on Touka and pulled on it.

“SHIT, Tobes you scared me!”  Touka yelped when he appeared next to her.

“Don’t call me that.  You should have a visitor coming to this training ground in the next hour or so.  Please make sure you’re here or I’ll have to Flying Raijin you here.”

“Oh?  Who’s this mystery visitor?  Why do I have to meet them here?”  Touka sounded uninterested, but Tobirama didn’t want to be gone from Kaida’s room for too long in case she did need him.

“You’ll find out when she gets here.  I have to go, Touka.”  He said quickly, and pulled on the seal outside Kaida’s room.  He let himself back in and walked over to the bag of clothes Madara had brought here for when Kaida woke up.  The silly girl had left it out here.  He sat down in the chair next to her bed and waited for her to call for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are interested in the story about Kaida's brothers, it can be found in Part 3 of Kaida Chronicles; Sharingan Awakened.  
> :D


End file.
